


Puzzle Pieces

by Foxxxyy123



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Character Development, Denial of Feelings, Drinking, Everyone Is Gay, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Modern Setting, Original Character(s), Past Abuse, Photography, Rating May Change, Self-Discovery, Self-Worth Issues, Slow Burn, Smoking, Trauma, True Love, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, a lot of pairings - Freeform, but also a lot of fluff, nearly everyone - Freeform, so many feeings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxxxyy123/pseuds/Foxxxyy123
Summary: Ayden, an inspiring artist, who was struggling to find a job was happy. Of course, being jobless and having some of the most annoying friends in the world, who made his life often unnecessarily harder than it had to be, could be exhausting but he was happy. Content.He was until he wasn't.Before the nightmares started. The daily panic attacks. His intrusive thoughts and self-doubt. Before all of that, he was happy. Worrying his friends, being scared of his own mind, and being obsessed with some stranger's eyes was something he never thought would happen. But they did.With the help of a stranger, his friends, and art Ayden's life was about to change. He just didn't know it.
Relationships: Cole Dyer/Kane Cohen, Darius Castillo/Marc Torres, Easton Powell/Levi Hardin, Jaxson Fields/Jacob Benton, Jeremy Powell/Weston Powell, Kai Cross/Ayden Davies, Marlon Green/Xavier Lambert, Reese Massey/ Owen Knox





	Puzzle Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone :)  
> This is my first time putting any of my work on here. I have never posted a story of mine but now I decided to just try it. I started writing this because of a silly idea I had and now I have over 32.000 words and I'm not even close to being done. I honestly don't know how long this will be. Writing always makes me happy so I hope this random not-so-little thing will make others happy (and also sad, because there are a lot of heavy topics and moments) too. 
> 
> There will be some things that may be triggering for some people but don't worry, I will always put a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter if needed! 
> 
> Another thing I want to mention, some topics, for example, photography, art, modeling, etc., will be heavily mentioned and I have to research the basics. I am clueless about all those things so if I got any of the stuff wrong please tell me and educate me! Some things are also just things I made up and thought would be fun to add or create so I hope that doesn't bother anyone! But the basics I'm trying to get as accurate as possible! 
> 
> I also would like to warn you guys, English is not my first language and I still struggle with the tenses from time to time (because I can't fucking decide in what tense I want to write in) so if there are any mistakes please point them out or whatever you want to do with them. Just a little heads up! 
> 
> In case anyone was wondering, this fic doesn't have any action. No big adventures, fights, or whatever. This story is mainly focusing on the character's issues and problems they have, most of them with themselves. It's a story about finding oneself and fighting with your own thoughts and brain more than anyone else. A lot of inner dialogue and character development will be happening and for anyone who needs a fight scene in every chapter, this really is not the right thing for you, I'm sorry. For the rest of you guys, enjoy! 
> 
> (Last thing, all the characters were inspired by characters from an anime. I did change them, some more than others, but I do think maybe some people can guess from which anime I got the characters from and anyone who gets it right will get a big cookie ;) )
> 
> Enjoy!

3:47 am. Ayden was awake at 3:47 am on a Wednesday. He starred at the blinking numbers on his alarm clock on his bedside table in confusion. Why was he awake at this ungodly hour? A crash coming from his kitchen answered his question. Oh yeah, right, he heard a similar crash not even a few minutes ago. He sighed and thought about just turning around, pressing his pillow over his head, and trying to go back to sleep but knowing Easton he wouldn’t stop making loud noises until someone looked after him. Ayden slowly sat up and prayed to whoever that his kitchen wasn’t fully destroyed. Maybe he got lucky for once and it was just an intruder trying to rob him. If that was the case, then he could just call the police and let them handle it.

“Oh, fuck!”, a loud voice yelped.

Nope, definitely not an intruder. Of course, he wouldn’t get this lucky.

He let out another tired sigh and asked himself why he was still putting up with this. He couldn’t come up with a satisfying answer. Another crashing sound made him move out of his warm and comfortable blankets and move towards the kitchen. His tired eyes were not ready for the bright light and he had to squeeze his eyes shut for some seconds to stop the light from burning. Ayden rapidly blinked his eyes open, hoping to get used to the light.

“AYDEN! GOOD MORNING!”

Ayden winced and stopped himself from covering his ears. He squinted at the person who never failed to make his life harder than it had to be.

“Dude, shut the fuck up. And it’s still in the middle of the night so you can shove your ‘good morning’ to where the sun doesn’t shine.”, he said with all the frustration and grumpiness he felt.

Easton just smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck in what may have been embarrassment or guilt.

“Sorry, man, didn’t know you were sleeping.”

“Of course, I was fucking sleeping, what else should I be doing at 3 am?!”

Ayden walked towards the little kitchen island and sat down on a stool. His eyes moved from the tall idiot, he called his best friend, to the possible damage in his kitchen. The cabinet where all his pans were normally stored was opened and all the pans, that were supposed to be inside were covering the white floor together with some cutlery. Shattered eggs were covering the kitchen counter and a carton of milk was spilled. For once it was silent aside from the dripping that could be heard from the milk that Ayden realized upon further inspection, had first spilled on the counter and down to the floor. Easton must have bumped it with his elbow or something. Of course, Easton couldn’t be silent anymore, but he wasn’t screaming either, so that was an improvement.

“It looks worse than it actually is.”

Ayden’s eyes immediately found Easton’s bright ones and he hoped that his stare was as murderous as he had felt.

“Oh really? So, you didn’t break my eggs, spilled my milk, and dropped all my pans, forks, spoons, and knifes on the floor?”, Ayden said in a calm voice. How he was able to keep himself from shouting, he didn’t know.

Easton immediately looked behind him and looked over the mess he made, like he didn’t know what he did in the first place.

“No, well- I mean…. Yeah, no, I definitely did all of that.”, he looked down in shame.

“What are you even doing here?” Ayden pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and also to stop a headache, he was already starting to feel, from getting worse. 

There was no use getting mad at Easton for the mess he made. He knew Easton will clean everything just to make a mess the next time he comes over. It was almost a ritual. Easton messing up Ayden’s kitchen, cleaning and paying for the damage because he often also broke his utensils or cabinet doors, and a few days later, a few weeks when Ayden got lucky, Easton will be back making another mess. Why Ayden hadn’t taken away Easton’s key yet is a mystery. Easton joined his annoyed and tired friend at the kitchen island and only answered when he sat down on the opposite side of Ayden. He put his face in his hands and didn’t look at his friend when he silently said:

“I couldn’t sleep, Levi’s shoot is taking longer than expected and he has to stay in France for three more days.”

That’s all it took for Ayden’s annoyance, frustration, and anger to disappear. He patted his friend’s shoulder a few times in empathy, worry growing inside of him.

Ever since Easton and Levi started dating, Easton couldn’t be alone without Levi for a long period of time. Easton was always someone who depended very easily on other people. His brother, his friends, and now Levi. It was in his nature. He couldn’t stay alone for a long time without getting depressed and restless. He grew up in a big family and with a twin brother he always had someone close to him. The dependency on people was really bad when Ayden met Easton in High School. He could remember the day so clearly.

_Ayden was just on his way to his first class, still nervous and confused by his new surroundings and after searching for his classroom for a while he heard a loud voice screaming “Don’t leave me”. As a curious person, Ayden couldn’t stop himself from walking around the corner and searching for the source of the voice. He watched as a young Easton clung to another boy, clutching the boy’s arm, refusing to let go. The boy, who Ayden later found out was his twin brother Weston, tried to pry his arm away and to calm down his brother, while nervously looking around. Ayden had locked eyes with the struggling and embarrassed boy. Ayden knew he should have just left, it wasn’t his problem, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked towards the boys in careful steps._

_“Please, calm down, Easton.”_

_“NO! NO, DON’T LEAVE ME!! PLEASE!”_

_“I’m not leaving you, please Easton I-“_

_“NO! NO! NO! DON’T LEAVE ME! I NEED YOU!” Easton, who had started crying, gripped Weston’s arm even tighter._

_“Are you guys alright?”, Ayden asked carefully, when he stood in front of the brothers._

_Easton didn’t hear him over his own crying and screaming while Weston looked both embarrassed and frustrated while looking at Ayden._

_“S-Sorry, my brother is just-“_

_“WESTON, PLEASE!”, the crying boy interrupted._

_A quick glance around told Ayden that a big group of onlookers was starting to form and judging from the ashamed look on Weston’s face, he had noticed too. Before Weston could respond, Ayden turned to the crying boy, gently touching his arm. Easton’s big wet confused eyes stared back at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before Ayden smiled and held out his hand._

_“I’m Ayden, what’s your name?”_

_The distressed boy had stopped screaming and silent tears were running down his face while an occasional hiccup and sniffle could be heard. It felt like hours before Easton responded. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve on his right arm, his left arm still holding his brother’s in a tight grip. After wiping away some tears Easton looked at Ayden and in a low voice said:_

_“I’m Easton.”_

_Ayden smiled only wider and wiggled his outstretched arm in invitation. Easton got the hint and with a confused expression, he took the offered hand. Ayden shook his arm and declared:_

_“Hi, Easton, nice to meet you. You want to be friends?”_

_Confusion melted to shock and then a big toothy smile was directed his way._

_“YES, I WANT TO!”_

_After that, Ayden had found out that the two brothers also just started High School and after finding out that Weston and Easton were in different classes, Easton had broken down and refused to go anywhere without his brother. Luckily, Ayden noticed that he and Easton went to the same class, and after declaring that, Easton couldn’t have looked any happier. Weston also looked relieved if not also suspicious. It didn’t even take them a week for the three of them to become best friends. Weston was able to attend his classes in peace and Easton wasn’t alone. He had Ayden._

Looking back at it, Ayden didn't really know why he had offered his friendship to Easton so easily. Maybe he had just felt bad for the crying boy and the struggling brother or maybe he just wanted to stop Easton from making a scene. In the end, Ayden didn't care what his reason was. No matter how troublesome and annoying Easton could be, he would never regret the day where he decided to become friends with that boy. He knew that Easton’s abandonment and separation issues became better and less intense but to this day he still had those problems. And after years of friendship and experiencing Easton’s dependency firsthand he knew how hard it is for his friend to be alone in his home while his boyfriend was in a whole other country. Easton’s problems always made it hard for him to make good friends and to have relationships. There was even a point where Easton completely gave up on relationships and dating, hating himself for his issues. And then he met Levi. Probably the most patient and understanding person on earth. Aside from Jeremy. He wasn’t creeped out by Easton’s behavior. He didn’t leave after Easton clung to him crying for the first time, begging him not to leave him. He just smiled and calmly told Easton that he wasn’t going anywhere. Ayden had to admit that he was very cautious and doubtful when Levi’s and Easton’s friendship developed into more. He trusted Levi but it had happened before, more times than he would like to admit. People entering Easton’s life and leaving after telling him they wouldn’t. Easton was a very nice and charismatic guy, but he was known for being too quick to trust other people. He had a very magnetic personality, and a lot of different individuals seem to be drawn to him but most of those people couldn’t handle Easton at his worst times. As much as Ayden hated seeing his friend sad and depressed, he didn’t hate the people who left. Sure, there were some he would love to beat up with a golf club until they stopped moving because they left Easton in the worst way possible, but Ayden knew that for most of them it was just too much to handle. He himself had his moments of doubts, asking himself if he could be there for Easton the way he needed him to but those thoughts disappeared and now he wouldn’t leave this boy for anything in this world. And after being in a very good and happy relationship with Levi for over a year now, he trusted Levi to not leave Easton anytime soon. If ever. The biggest problem in their relationship was their occupations. Levi was a model, who was slowly starting to get more attention and more jobs outside of the country. Easton meanwhile was starting to become successful as a professional boxer. They tried to spend as much time as possible together. Whenever Levi wasn’t at a photo shooting or in a meeting with his manager he was with Easton and it was obvious that Easton whenever he didn’t have to practice or there wasn’t a fight coming up he would cling to Levi, never leaving his side. However, due to their sometimes-mismatching schedules and Easton taking his profession more and more seriously he couldn’t always go with Levi when he had photo shootings abroad. They try to text, call, and facetime as much as possible but for someone like Easton that wasn’t enough.

“Have you called him today?”, Ayden asked after some time of silence.

Easton shook his head and looked up at Ayden with big sad eyes.

“I mean, we did but not for long. I wanted to and I even thought about calling him again, but I couldn’t.”, he paused, looking down at the table, chewing on his bottom lip. A bad habit that his friends tried to stop him from doing.

Ayden waited patiently, knowing that Easton sometimes needed some time to get his thoughts in order. He wasn’t known to be a patient person but for Easton, he would be. From the outside and to people who don't know him very well Easton probably seemed like a very loud, excited, and energetic puppy, which he was most of the time. He was a ball of energy, who loved being surrounded by people and making others laugh. On the inside, when he had his bad days, he was the complete opposite. He got discouraged and depressed very easily. The smallest thing can make his mood turn 180. He is always one of those extremes: Happy, energetic puppy or depressed and sad, like someone kicked said puppy and left it in the rain. There was most of the time no in between. Except when he was with Levi. Ayden hasn’t figured out how, but Levi was always able to calm Easton down when he was a little too loud and excited but also cheer him up when he was depressed. Levi was doing those things without having to try. It just came naturally to him. With Levi, Easton seemed calm and content. And if there was a word Ayden wouldn’t associate with his friend it would be calm.

“And it’s not like I didn’t want to call him and talk with him because you know I always want to talk to him but… Well, I noticed that he was very tired. He looked so tired when we face timed and so exhausted. So, I lied and said I was already very tired, which I was not, and that we should hang up sooner than normal. I really didn’t want to, but I didn’t want him to stay up too late for me. He needs to have enough sleep. He can’t have dark circles around his eyes on his photos now, can he?”, he admitted with a sad voice.

Ayden couldn’t help but smile. Easton with all his flaws and problems always thought about others first before he indulges in his own needs and wants. He was always so proud of Levi and his job, always encouraging him and telling his boyfriend that he was made to be a model. Easton was Levi’s number one fan and supporter which is also why he never wants to do or ask for something that could get in the way of Levi’s photos.

Ayden got out of his seat and rounded the table to get on Easton’s side. Without saying anything Easton turned his body towards Ayden’s and hugged his best friend tight. Another thing Ayden quickly learned about Easton was that he loved physical touch. No matter what, Easton always had to make some sort of contact with his loved ones, which is why he was all tight hugs, shoulder bumps, and friendly pats. Ayden thought it was just for fun at the beginning, that there was no real reason behind those touches but after some time he realized that touching wasn’t simply touching for his friend. No, touching his friends, his loved ones, was grounding and calming for Easton. He needed it and none of his friends could get mad or deny him that. The only person who has ever voiced their dislike for that behavior was Jaxson but even he was slowly getting used to it. Ayden hugged him just as tight and slowly but firmly rubbed his back in a soothing motion. He was just about to offer Easton to sleep with him at his place tonight, which they have done nearly every time Levi was gone, Easton’s phone started to ring. He abruptly let go of Ayden and fished his phone out of his pocket.

“Oh my god, it’s Levi!”, he exclaimed excitedly.

With his thumb hovering above the green button, he looked at Ayden with big pleading eyes.

“Is it okay if-“

“Yes, for fuck’s sake, just pick up.”, Ayden rolled his eyes and said with amusement. As if Ayden would say no. It was sweet for Easton to ask but he knew he could never bring himself to deny his best friend some time with his boyfriend.

Easton grinned, nodded once, in what Ayden assumed was gratitude, and excitedly picked up.

“HEY, LEVI!”

Ayden winced at his loud voice and gave him a warning look. It seemed like the message came across and Easton continued his phone call in a normal tone. Ayden didn’t bother to listen to the phone call, knowing it would just be a never-ending stream of declarations of love on Easton’s part and he didn’t need to hear how much his friend missed and loved Levi. He knew it either way. Instead of staying he walked back to his bedroom and crawled back in his now cold bed. After making himself comfortable again he glanced at his alarm clock and couldn’t help but groan at the time. It was 4:15 am and he had only 3 hours left to sleep which was not nearly as much as he had hoped for. He closed his eyes and with the hushed voice of his friend in the background he fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first chapter and yes I'm jumping right into it. I have a lot of characters so get ready to meet everyone in the next chapters. Like I already mentioned, even though there is obviously a story, I will take a lot of time describing the character's feelings and thoughts. 
> 
> Anyway, see ya next chapter!


End file.
